Dustin Pedroia: Filthy rich, filthy uniform

Bill Ballou TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Wednesday July 24, 2013 at 6:00 am

By the time his Red Sox career is over, Dustin Pedroia should be at or near the top of almost every list the team prints in its annual media guide. And one it doesn’t include as well — richest Red Sox.

By the time his Red Sox career is over, Dustin Pedroia should be at or near the top of almost every list the team prints in its annual media guide.

And one it doesn’t include as well — richest Red Sox.

Assuming that he passes the required physical this week, Pedroia and the Red Sox are ready to sign a contract extension that will allow him to remain a member of the organization through 2021. The extension, first reported by WEEI.com, will pay Pedroia $100 million for seven years from 2015 through ’21.

“I want to make sure I’m playing my last game here,” he said on Tuesday. “That’s important. It is the only thing I know. I love putting on a Red Sox uniform every day.”

Including his salary this season, Pedroia has earned about $30.4 million in his Red Sox career. He will get another $10 million next season, so by the time this contract expires, the Sox will have paid him about $140 million.

It is not the most lucrative deal ever done by Boston. The Sox’ first foray into the Fort Knox neighborhood of contracts was in 2001, when they signed Manny Ramirez for eight years at what turned about to be about $148 million, though it was initially reported at $200 million.

The general manager for that one was Dan Duquette in the final year of Yawkey ownership, and the front office understood that whoever the new owners were would be on the hook for most of it.

The Ramirez signing turned out to be a good one from a competitive standpoint even if the left fielder was a delinquent at times and sulked his way out of town. Boston won two World Series during his seven-plus seasons in town.

In 2011, the Red Sox signed Adrian Gonzalez to a $154-million contract over seven years, but got out from under that obligation last season when they traded him to the Dodgers.

The deal is obviously intended to keep Pedroia in a Red Sox uniform through the end of his career and as such, he should finish his time in Boston as one of the franchise’s elite players. Pedroia will be 38 in 2021 and by that time will have spent 16 seasons in a Red Sox uniform.

That will put him the company of players like Carl Yastrzemski, 23 seasons; Ted Williams and Dwight Evans, 19 seasons each; Tim Wakefield, 17 seasons and Jim Rice, 16 seasons.

“What Dustin means to this team,” manager John Farrell said, “is the example he demonstrates every day, whether it’s his early work or the way he competes in a game. He sets the tone for us; he embodies everything we value in a player.”

Tuesday night against the Rays, hours after he and the Sox all but officially confirmed the new deal, Pedroia went out and turned in one of his typical performances. After grounding out in the first, he was hit by a pitch in the third and was part of a double steal with Shane Victorino, with Victorino scoring Boston’s second run.

In the fifth, Pedroia drove in the third Red Sox run with a sacrifice fly. He left the field each inning with a dirty uniform, and on his way to being filthy rich.